Pop won’t take unnecessary chances on Duncan, Ginobili

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — On each night of the rodeo road trip, Spurs forward Stephen Jackson has arrived at the arena with the same pressing question for injured stars Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.

“I ask them every day, ‘Are you playing tonight? Are you playing tonight?’?” Jackson said.

For the third straight night to start the trip Sunday night in Brooklyn, the answer was, “not today.”

Duncan missed his seventh game in the last eight dealing with a left knee issue. Ginobili skipped his eighth game in 12 with a left hamstring problem.

The Spurs rallied for a 111-86 victory in their inaugural trip to the Barclays Center anyway, giving them 12 wins in their last 13 games — all but one of which came with at least Duncan or Ginobili sidelined.

With each day creeping closer to the All-Star break, the chances of either suiting up before the western leg of the rodeo road trip lessens.

“We need to have those guys healthy and energetic at the end of the year,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “Things work a whole lot better with those guys than without them. I’m not going to take any chances. If I err, it’s going to be on the conservative side.”

Duncan and Ginobili have tried to make their case in shootarounds during the road trip, participating without ill effects. Duncan has gone through his normal pregame routine before each of the first three games before being ruled out.

In the wake of the $250,000 fine levied against the Spurs when they rested four healthy players for a November game in Miami, Popovich said he would continue handling Duncan and Ginobili’s rehabilitation schedule as he sees fit.

“My concern is for their health and safety, nothing else,” Popovich said. “That’s my job. We’ve been doing it for 16 or 17 years this way, and it’s worked out pretty good.”

Pop supports Carlesimo: It was a surreal moment for Popovich back in December, when the Nets fired his former player, Avery Johnson, and promoted his former assistant and good friend P.J. Carlesimo to interim coach.

“It was odd to have one good friend fired and have another good friend take over,” Popovich said. “You make one phone call to one, then you call the next one. Strange feeling.”

Popovich said he wasn’t surprised to see Carlesimo, an assistant coach on NBA championship teams in 2003, 2005 and 2007, receive a fourth shot at an NBA coaching job at age 63.

Carlesimo is 15-8 since taking over for Johnson.

“In this business, it’s all about circumstances for all of us,” Popovich said. “Circumstances have a lot to do with our failures and our successes. Opportunities are taken away, and opportunities arise all the time in the NBA.